DragonCooler Posted June 4, 2010 Report Share Posted June 4, 2010 I am heavily interested in becoming a pilot. Money is no problem to go to flight school (lets say). I have been reading the forums and it looks as though the job market is not going well in the country for pilots. Many are being laid off and others simply are not getting hired after completing their CFII. Also lets not mention finding a school that will even hire you after completion. I currently live in the Dallas/Fort Worth Texas area and was thinking, what about the Air National Guard? I am 24 and will have a 4 year college degree(currently in school). I know how the military can be about their promises, but what are the odds, or is it even worth considering, going with the ANG asking to become a pilot there? Having a college degree, I would assume I would go in as an officer which is required to be a pilot. Does anyone have better knowledge than I, or better yet experience? I am trying to think ahead and plan on having a semi smooth transition into flying as a career. Not only would they get me hours, but its freaking military trained hours!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloidaho Posted June 5, 2010 Report Share Posted June 5, 2010 First, I have to chime in my usual jaded military perspective: The military is a service and a different lifestyle. Even as an ANG pilot, you'll be in training for many years and have to make some sacrifices. It is not for everyone. Going in just to get flight hours isn't an attitude that would get you far. The priorities in the Air Force are to be an Airman and an Officer first and an aviator second. It is not just pre-flight and take off. There are hours of mission planning, briefings, and de-briefings attached to every flight. So my advice to you is that if you want to fly for the military, understand what you are getting yourself into and do it for the right reasons. Just trying to get some flight hours is not the right reason or enough to have a satisfying military experience. That's just my humble opinion. But after almost 8 years in the Air Force, the Airmen I have seen with the most success were the ones with the "what can I give to the service" attitude rather than the "what can I get from the service" attitude. With that out of the way, here are some details that might guide you a bit: The Air National Guard mostly flys fixed wing. So I'm guessing that is the sort of flying career you are after. There are a handful of Air Force helicopter pilots, but I'm not exactly sure where the units are located or if there are any that are Guard; they might all be active duty. From a brief search, it looks like the Texas ANG has C-130s, F-16s, and UAVs. The airframe you fly will dictate how many hours a year you get, but you're not going to be flying as much as a flight instructor. It is possible that you'd fly less than 200 hours a year. All aviators in the Air Force or Air National Guard are officers and must have a bachelor's degree. I've also never seen a Guard pilot slot go to someone who didn't have a minimum of a PPL. They want someone who already has a proven flight ability. Now you asked about the Air National Guard... for the Army Guard it is totally different and they have Warrant Officers and Officers that fly mostly helicopters. Information about Army aviation is thick on the military section of this forum. If you want more details about that, just start searching around for WOFT and Army Aviation, or just find Lindsey on the boards and read anything she posts about or on. Bottom line -- if you just want to be a pilot and you have the money. Pay for flight school and work your way up. If you are prepared to be a MILITARY aviator, emphasis on the military, then keep looking down the rabbit hole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonCooler Posted June 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2010 First, I have to chime in my usual jaded military perspective: The military is a service and a different lifestyle. Even as an ANG pilot, you'll be in training for many years and have to make some sacrifices. It is not for everyone. Going in just to get flight hours isn't an attitude that would get you far. The priorities in the Air Force are to be an Airman and an Officer first and an aviator second. It is not just pre-flight and take off. There are hours of mission planning, briefings, and de-briefings attached to every flight. So my advice to you is that if you want to fly for the military, understand what you are getting yourself into and do it for the right reasons. Just trying to get some flight hours is not the right reason or enough to have a satisfying military experience. That's just my humble opinion. But after almost 8 years in the Air Force, the Airmen I have seen with the most success were the ones with the "what can I give to the service" attitude rather than the "what can I get from the service" attitude. With that out of the way, here are some details that might guide you a bit: The Air National Guard mostly flys fixed wing. So I'm guessing that is the sort of flying career you are after. There are a handful of Air Force helicopter pilots, but I'm not exactly sure where the units are located or if there are any that are Guard; they might all be active duty. From a brief search, it looks like the Texas ANG has C-130s, F-16s, and UAVs. The airframe you fly will dictate how many hours a year you get, but you're not going to be flying as much as a flight instructor. It is possible that you'd fly less than 200 hours a year. All aviators in the Air Force or Air National Guard are officers and must have a bachelor's degree. I've also never seen a Guard pilot slot go to someone who didn't have a minimum of a PPL. They want someone who already has a proven flight ability. Now you asked about the Air National Guard... for the Army Guard it is totally different and they have Warrant Officers and Officers that fly mostly helicopters. Information about Army aviation is thick on the military section of this forum. If you want more details about that, just start searching around for WOFT and Army Aviation, or just find Lindsey on the boards and read anything she posts about or on. Bottom line -- if you just want to be a pilot and you have the money. Pay for flight school and work your way up. If you are prepared to be a MILITARY aviator, emphasis on the military, then keep looking down the rabbit hole. Awesome!! Thank you for the response. I was mainly worried about not getting hours after getting the CFII, as everyone is. No one really wants to be an instructor after they pass thier school, but if its what it takes then so be it and do it with a smile(and not a fake one) Are there other options for getting the 2000+ hours required by most companies other than being a CFI? Please understand I am not downing CFI, but trying to plan ahead in case there are no CFI jobs when it comes time to pass everything and complete the school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pohi Posted June 7, 2010 Report Share Posted June 7, 2010 Are there other options for getting the 2000+ hours required by most companies other than being a CFI? Please understand I am not downing CFI, but trying to plan ahead in case there are no CFI jobs when it comes time to pass everything and complete the school. The short answer is yes, there are other options. Those options, however, are quite rare. If you know the right people, or meet and then charm the pants off of the right person, then you might be able to bypass some or all of the hours that instructing normally takes care of. Every once in a while, there are some companies that are looking for pilots to travel the country and do photo flights... the last one that I saw was somewhere around 200-300 hours of helicopter time. I did not notice any of those jobs yet for this year. So, there are options, but it might be difficult to plan on some of them. Careful choosing of your flight school, and hard work during your training might go a long way to increasing your chances of landing that CFI job. Your time as a student, in some places, can be considered a year long interview. Good luck in whatever your choice may be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindsey Posted June 7, 2010 Report Share Posted June 7, 2010 or just find Lindsey on the boards and read anything she posts about or on. Or Lindsey will just see the words "Air" "National" and "Guard" and feel most obligated to click and read. Thanks for the vote of confidence though heloidaho--I'm not even in the military yet! its freaking military trained hours!!! Military trained hours, yes. But please do not ignore the flip-side of that training, and those hours-combat flying, sacrifices neither of us yet know about, and the obvious sacrifices too. My best advice to you is to just READ. Read, read, read. Read these forums, read other forums. Ask questions (after more reading). Talk to current ANG pilots. Get their perspective. You can NEVER have enough information, especially when making a choice such as this. That said, I am not at all well-briefed on the ANG, so I am not the best one to direct questions to. ...and heloidaho is right: If you want to fly helicopters, the ARMY National Guard seems like your best bet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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